Tang for Your Journey to the West

harasha

LochNESS

quite a rainbow! blues, greens, red, yellows - very cool!

the aqua-teal glow on the first one is my fave

sumnom

These are very nice!

LochNESS

Have to admit, when I first saw the title, I thought you meant the soda ...

harasha

My idea of humor.
Tang, of course, refers to the dynasty. Less clear may be the phrase, "Journey to the West." There, I was referring to the Monkey King epic, which, I believe, takes place during the reign of the second Tang emperor.

pruebas

For those of us who are "dynasticly challenged," what years would these have been made? And what would one such coin have bought back then?

TwoKopeiki

Cool coins and a fascinating area of collecting. The number of type and varieties make my head spin. I noticed some have an additional character on the reverse - what is the significance of that?

harasha

The Tang dynasty lasted from 618 to 907.
I am not too sure about the cloud or crescent marks. They may be for good fortune.
The reverses that carry a Chinese character refer to the mint.
I hope I am correct. I know that there are members who actually know what they are discussing, unlike me.

sumnom

I don't really know Tang coins but you are right that the reverse characters usually refer to mints. Sometimes they can refer to denomination of year of casting but I don't think that is the case with these examples.

LochNESS

The only downside to collecting these beautiful types is that nobody is alive today, who was alive when they were struck, to verify beyond doubt which symbols mean what (and which mints). Unlike modern strikes where all one's questions can be answered with a phone call to the mint or Google search.

sumnom

The info is out there. You just have to be able to read Chinese.

LochNESS

There is info, yes, but it's all been passed down over centuries and who knows what is real and what has been muddled by history, hearsay and conjecture. Or "educated guesses." I'm just saying it would be nice if we could travel back in time and speak to someone who was actually witness to the minting of these coins and knew how many they minted, where they were minted, etc. I'm tired of researching coins only to find "mintage unknown."

harasha

For me, my collections frequently are more connected to outside interests rather than for the coins themselves.
A diversity presentation by some company employees earlier this year not only peaked my interest in Chinese culture, but also highlighted my ignorance.
I responded as usual, choosing something to read; in this case Monkey King - Journey to the West. I also turned to my interest in coins and decided to take a serious look at those strange, holed coins.
Got me a copy of Jen's Chinese Cash, put in an initial order for diverse specimens and proceeded to occupy my time in a way I had not expected.
My most interesting reaction; I am strangely drawn in to the innate beauty of the the Chinese characters, so my interest remains peaked.
I am looking forward to discussing the matter with a Chinese coin expert at the NYINC and further consider where I may go.

Of course, if I could actually read the characters, rather than match them to a graphic, there would be more places I could explore!